Murphy's Law: The Daniel Jackson Corollary
by Kilala Fae
Summary: Murphy's Law: If something can go wrong, it will go wrong and at the worst possible time. The Daniel Jackson Corollary: When something ancient-y goes wrong it all leads back to Dr. Daniel Jackson. So when NCIS finds two dead bodies, one of whom has a photo of an ancient tablet, guess who shows up?


A thought my sister and I had a while ago. It just kept growing, and growing until it turned into this monster. It has taken this long to get everything written and beta-ed. Hopefully you guys will enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. A big thanks to my sis and DR4g0lV for beta-ing this thing every time I decided to add something, which was quite often and to my sis for pushing me to keep writing, being my soundboard, and to post it.

The usual disclaimers: I don't own SG-1 or NCIS, though both are great. Enjoy!

* * * * * * * NCIS/SG-1 * * * * * * * *

Lieutenant Matt Graff entered the bar on the west side of D.C. Glancing around, he noticed his friend Scott Sutherland in the far corner, nearly hidden from view. Scott had called him the previous day and asked to meet, knowing that Matt was using his leave to visit his parents in the capital. The man that Matt saw hidden in the corner was not the brash loud-mouthed guy ready to crack a joke at a moment's notice, he remembered. Scott looked haggard with dark circles and his eyes darting to and fro, scanning the bar. "Hey, man. You don't look so good... What's wrong?" Matt questioned.

"Do you trust your superiors?" Was the only response Matt received.

"Funny you should mention superiors, I'm actually planning to meet Dr. J later. But to answer your question, yeah I trust 'em. Saved my ass more times than I care to admit." Matt replied trying in vain to lighten the mood. A weak smile was the only acknowledgment of the comment. Matt's well-honed sixth sense from off-world missions kicked in at that moment. Someone was about to start a fight. Why and with whom, he didn't know. Figuring that walking into a bar wasn't enough to piss somebody off, he decided to ignored it.

"I ran across something big last week... and at least one of the base's head guys was in on it. I don't know who I can trust there..." Scott's eyes darted around again. "Let's head to my place. It's too open here..."

"Alright." Matt said deciding to heed the warning as he felt his sixth sense kick up a notch or two. "Let's get out of here." Throwing a few bills on the table to cover Scott's tab, they headed out the main door. A little while later Matt was wondering if leaving had been a good idea. Someone had followed them out and was still following them nearly two blocks later. They were almost half-way to Scott's place. Turning to warn Scott, his duck and cover instinct took over and he was ducking behind the other side of the car before he even registered that a shot had been fired, let alone that Scott had been hit.

Raising his head, he glanced around trying to spot the shooter and the nearest place to hide. He didn't get a good look at the shooter but the gun was a 9mil with a silencer. Matt had slightly more luck locating a hiding spot. There was an alley on the other side of the street. Deciding to make a break for it, he got hit in the shoulder, stumbling he hit the corner of the building and a second shot hit his leg, rendering him unable to do anything more than crawl. Knowing he was going to die, either from the shooter or blood loss, he sat with his back against the wall and glared up at his unknown assailant as the final shot was fired.

* * * * * * * NCIS/SG-1 * * * * * * * *

Lieutenant Matthew Graff had contacted Daniel regarding an ancient tablet that he had seen at a museum while on leave. The tablet appeared to have Ancient writings on it. As protocol dictated, he obtained a copy of the tablet from a museum and promptly contacted the SGC, Daniel in particular since all Ancient items went through him first. Daniel had gotten permission from General Hammond to fly to D.C. to investigate and bring the tablet back, if necessary.

The tablet had been found in a recent dig taking place near the Caucasus Mountains of Georgia. The archeologists who discovered the tablet had been unable to translate it and sent it to the museum for further study. There it had lain for a few months before being placed on display where the Lieutenant saw it. By saying that he had a friend who was an archeologist that studied ancient languages, he was able to obtain a copy. Why the museum had handed over a copy, Daniel didn't particularly care.

Lieutenant Matthew Graff had been at the SGC for about 18 months and had proved his worth to the program. Rumor had it that he was going to be promoted soon, and Daniel knew it to be true. Matt had been visiting his parents who were avid museum-goers. As soon as Matt had seen the tablet and had gotten the copy to confirm what he thought, he had called Daniel. It had been the Lieutenant's third day of leave. Daniel was to arrive the next day and meet the Lieutenant the day after at a small cafe near his parent's house.

Only the Lieutenant didn't arrive at the appointed time or contact Daniel to let him know that he was going to be late. Confused and slightly worried as the Lieutenant was always prompt, Daniel checked his e-mail in case Matt was unable to contact him through his phone. He did have an e-mail, but it wasn't from the Lieutenant. It was from an old friend, he almost closed the window without reading it, but something stopped him. He had the time... he was expecting it to be nothing more than an update on her life, he was startled to read that she was looking for his expertise on a case she had at NCIS. They had stumbled across a picture of a tablet that they were unable to decipher despite the fact that they had contacted several experts come in and take a look. Only two had been able to come on the short notice. The e-mail's timing and message was too coincidental. Looking at his watch, he decided to stop by NCIS headquarters tomorrow since it was already getting late and composed a reply.

_Dear __Abby,_

_It __is __always __good __to __hear __from __you. __Believe __it __or __not, __I __am __actually __in __D.C. __right __now __for __business. __I __will __be __able __to __stop __by __tomorrow __and __look __at __the __photo. __I __have __to __say __I __am __very __intrigued. __Your __bosses' __must __be __desperate __to __turn __to __a __guy __with my reputation__. __Can't __wait __to __see __you __tomorrow. __Yes, __I __was __going __to __call __you __anyway __tomorrow __and __see __if __you __wanted __to __have __lunch __and __catch __up. __I __will __be __there __early __tomorrow __morning. __You __can __tell __me __all __about __your __bowling __league __then._

_Daniel_

Daniel sighed and sent the e-mail. Tomorrow was not going to go well if his sixth sense was half as developed as Jack kept saying it was.

* * * * * * * NCIS/SG-1 * * * * * * * *

Abby grinned as she heard the ding signaling a new message which only grew when she saw it was from her good friend Daniel Jackson. It was pretty much a hit or miss with him. He either responded right away or a few days later. She laughed as she read through her message before its implications caught up with her. It was perfect timing. She grinned at the thought of seeing him again after all this time.

They had been friends since high school; she was a sophomore and he had been a senior. They had both been outcasts in their own right, he as a genius foster kid and her as a happy Goth with deaf parents, and as such kind of drifted together. That year had proved a solid ground for their friendship to grow on. They kept in touch via e-mail and random visits every few years, until he had dropped off the face of the planet for a year about seven years ago and again only last year. She had only seen him once briefly in those seven years, floppy hair and big glasses, exactly like he was in high school. He had told her he was currently in Colorado Springs working with the Air Force as a translator, but that was all she knew about his current job.

She was well-aware of his disastrous paper eight years ago that pretty much ended his academic career. Like most people she was slightly skeptical about the whole concept but it was her friend and so to be supportive she had read his paper, as she knew he read all of hers, and found that with all the evidence he had given it was a plausible theory. She had promised herself to do her best to try and help him prove his theory.

* * * * * * * NCIS/SG-1 * * * * * * * *

At 8:30 in the morning, Daniel walked into NCIS with a coffee in one hand and a chocolate doughnut covered in black sprinkles in the other, only to be stopped just before security. "We don't open until 9." was the guard's statement.

"Ah. I am here at the request of Abby Sciuto. I told her I would be in this morning. You can call her and tell her I'm here. Dr. Daniel Jackson. There was a tablet that she wanted me to examine." The guard walked away, presumably to call their resident forensic scientist. Not five minutes later, Daniel was tackled by a black shape that he knew to be Abby. "Good to see you too Abby. I brought you something."

The shape released him and sure enough formed into one Abigail Sciuto. "You remembered!" She exclaimed upon seeing her favorite high school snack. She immediately snatched it out of his hand and started nibbling on it. "Joe, you can let him through. This is Daniel, an old friend of mine." She turned to really look at Daniel for the first time. Gone was his floppy hair and his big glasses had been replaced by small square wire-rimmed ones. He had also put on some muscle. Simply put, he was no longer screamed 'geek'. "You have changed...I like it. When did you cut your hair? I am glad you got rid of those glasses, they always made you look like an owl. Which I thought you might take as a compliment since owls are wise and such so I never said anything. Anyway, I like the new look."

Daniel chuckled. "And you haven't changed in the slightest. Hanging out with the military will do that to you." Daniel said by way of explanation for his changed looks. "So where is this tablet?" He asked as Abby escorted him through security and took him down to her lab in which the rock music was blaring.

"Do you want the actual photo or a blown up version on the big screen? Big screen might be better. That way I can recreate any parts that might be a little hinky. So I'll just blow it up on the big screen anyway. Here is the photo." Abby said happily somehow making herself heard without having to yell as she handed over the photo.

After only a brief glance Daniel confirmed that it was indeed in Ancient. Which meant that his job just got a lot harder...and it didn't spell good news for the Lieutenant if NCIS had gotten their hands on it. Praying this was just some super weird coincidence, he asked, "so where did you find this? It's obviously Ancient... and in an obscure language." he comment cautiously, hoping his wariness would be mistaken for his head unraveling the writing rather than worried about the implications of the photo being in NCIS's hands.

"We found it on a marine's body. He and another guy were killed two days ago. The bodies were found within 4 to 6 hours of their time of death. The marine's cause of death was a gunshot to the head after being shot in the left shoulder and the leg. Most likely the first shot hit him in the shoulder as he tried to escape which resulted in the leg shot and finally the killer decided to finish him off permanently with a bullet to the head, execution style. The second guy was killed with a head shot off the bat which was probably what gave our marine the heads up and caused the shooter to miss the first time." Abby recited for Daniel expecting him to look a little...well something. Instead he was simply looked lost in thought.

Daniel turned to say something, when his phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID, it read Unavailable. Sighing, he closed his mouth and answered the phone, "Hello?" he inquired.

"Dr. Daniel Jackson?" A gruff voice responded.

"Yes...Who is calling?" Daniel asked warily.

"My name is Special Agent Gibbs. You need to come to NCIS Headquarters. Today. Please."

What were the odds... actually considering his luck, pretty good. "I can do that. I'm actually already at NCIS, visiting a friend that wanted me to look at something. I am in the forensics lab. Do you want me to come up or would you rather send someone down to get me?" Daniel replied amicably. There was no point in throwing up his hands in frustration and cursing his luck, even if it would make him feel slightly better. There was a pause on the other side of the phone, and then a brief response, "Agent Dinozzo will be right down." and a then a dial tone.

"Looks like I get to meet your friends Abby. That was an Agent Gibbs and he is sending down an Agent Dinozzo. Know them?" Judging from her expression she did. She was all smiles, then again Abby was always smiles.

"Oh! Tony is coming down here? That is Special Agent Dinozzo. He will probably make some geeky comments, but don't let it get to you. It is just an act, well mostly. He is a really good guy and a great agent no matter what he acts like. He loves to quote movies and such. He may try to intimidate you, but don't let him. He is really just a big softy, he is just trying to act like Gibbs. Now there is man who can intimidate anyone. He has this glare that just makes you want to spill your guts to him. But that is only if you get on his bad side, well his really bad side. Mostly he is just a bit of a grump. But we all love him like that. He is super good around kids though. And he can smell a lie a mile away, it is fun to watch him rip into guilty parties. Sadly I don't get to see it much but I get all the juicy details from Tony and Ziva..."

Daniel knew he had to cut her off before she got much farther, and was just about to when someone entered the room, presumably Agent 'Tony' Dinozzo. "Hey Abs! Gibbs wants me to bring your friend to the conference room." He called as he entered the room. He glanced over and saw Daniel. "Hi, I'm Special Agent Anthony Dinozzo, but you can call me Tony. What are you doing here anyway?"

"I was visiting an old friend," he gestured to Abby, "and she wanted me to take a look at a photo of a tablet you guys found." Daniel responded.

"Well, what a coincidence! Good to know that Gibbs won't send me off on a goose chase to find you then. Anyway, follow me to the conference room. We have a few questions for you, and you might as well bring that photo" Tony gestured to the tablet photo that was still in Daniel's hand. "With any luck you'll be able to read it, or at least identify the writing on it. I've already had to contact several experts to come in to look at it. Most of them couldn't come on such short notice. We sent a photo to a couple of the ones who couldn't but had access to e-mail and they were at a loss, they had never seen anything like it before... Anyway, we have two experts here currently trying to decipher it." Tony paused for a moment, waiting for Dr. Jackson to comment. He wasn't disappointed.

"Huh. Who did you get to come in? Dr. Ward and Dr. Knowlton? Or someone else?"

Surprised briefly colored Tony's face before he shook it off and responded, "Yep those would be the two. You know 'em?"

"Sort of. I assume you know my background and all about my paper that practically got me kicked out of academia, they took it personally when I published that paper. They were and still are at the top of the archeological field. Dr. Knowlton had done lots of research regarding the pyramids so he thought I was trying to dis-credit him and saw to it that I really only dis-credited myself. Dr. Knowlton is good at keeping his professional and personal opinions apart. Which is good for me. He has a low professional opinion of me but he still thinks...or at least the last time I saw him he still thought I was a good kid. And Dr. Ward, well, he disliked me even before then since I chose to work with his rival Dr. Jordan. And the paper did nothing to endear me to him... Don't get me wrong, they are very good at what they do but they are a little narrow-minded and stuck in their ways."

"Well, then maybe it wasn't a good idea to put the three of you in the same conference room..."

"Well, it'll be fine as long as you don't expect a collaborative effort on their part. I know they have collaborated together on several papers so whether or not they'll work with me is the question...we're all adults so it shouldn't be too much of an issue...hopefully." Daniel sighed in resignation.

"You're in luck then. For a little while at least. I have some questions that I need to ask before you get to go play with the other children. Well, as long as you answer them satisfactorily. And look on the bright side, maybe your 'friends' will figure it out before we're done and leave before they even know you're here."

Daniel very nearly laughed. "My luck is never that good and... they don't have the right background to translate it that quickly, they probably won't even know where to start. That is part of the reason I chose to work with Dr. Jordan, he excelled at translations. Anyway, let's get this over with."

Tony nodded and opened the door to an empty conference room. Taking a seat and gesturing for Daniel to do the same, Tony opened a folder and opened his mouth, but Daniel beat him to the punch.

"This is about Lieutenant Matthew Graff, isn't it? He's dead, right? That is why your Agent Gibbs called me. Abby probably contacted me as a third party thinking that there was no way I was involved... Am I correct?" He looked over at Tony half-dreading the answer he knew was coming.

Tony's eyes widened slightly before saying, "Yea, that pretty much sums it up." and without missing a beat continued, "So how did you know the Lieutenant? Marines and archeologists aren't usually close..."

"We worked together." Was the short response, upon seeing Tony's raised eyebrow, Daniel elaborated...a little. "He was new on base so I offered to show him around until he got assigned to a team who could then show him the ropes. I told him the best place to get coffee and who to avoid, things like that. How did Agent Gibbs get my name and phone number anyway?"

"It was under Dr. J in the Lieutenant's recent call log, which caught our interest, and assuming that the Dr. J in his e-mail contacts was the same person, we checked them both out. Sure enough, both the cell phone number and the email address were registered under a Dr. Daniel Jackson. We just didn't realize you were the same Daniel that Abby was going to contact. We would have called sooner but talking to his parents took longer than it normally does. Anyway back to the questions. So why was a marine working at an Air Force base?"

Daniel sighed, it had begun. "It's classified."

"Really? Seems kind of odd to me... What is your job on the base? What does the Air Force want with a, no offense but a, disreputable archeologist?"

"I work as a translator mostly. I do know 28 languages."

"Wow. I think that's more than Ziva knows..." Tony mumbled to himself before continuing, "Why did the Lieutenant contact you?"

"That is classified."

"What is your position at the base?"

"I'm the head of my department."

"What department is that?"

"...Translation."

'What do you translate?"

"Languages."

'Which ones?" Tony felt like he was pulling teeth.

"Russian and others."

"Care to be more specific?" Tony nearly growled with frustration.

"Sorry, the others are classified."Daniel did look apologetic.

Switching topics, Tony tried again, "How long have you been at the base?"

"Um...seven.. no six years. I...took last year off..."

"Why did you take off?"

"I died." At Tony's look he tried to elaborated a little. "No seriously, there was an obituary and everything. Do you want me to say it's classified?"

"Actually, yes I would've preferred that 'cuz you look plenty alive to me. What did Lieutenant Graff do?"

"That is classified."

"What team was he assigned to?"

"That is classified." At Tony's exasperated look, he added, "It is a highly classified military project. I am trying to help as much as I can, but some things just can't be said."

"What base was he stationed at?"

"Colorado Springs."

"The classified one in Colorado Springs?" Tony said sarcastically.

"Yep. That one."

Deciding he was getting nowhere, Tony went for more case-related questions with, hopefully, more direct answers. "Where were you two days ago between 10pm on Tuesday and 1am on Wednesday?"

"I had just returned to base and then showered and worked... until about 2am before crashing on base."

"Where were you returning from?"

"That is classified."

Tony threw up his hands. "Oh, come on!" Taking a deep breath Tony continued, "Is there anyone who can verify that you were on your classified base at those times?"

"The base security cameras... I think most everyone else was asleep... I saw Sam around midnight when we ran into each other getting coffee. Her lab is on the other side of the base though..."

"Any chance I can look at those tapes?"

"Not likely, no. You can probably talk to the base's CO about it though. His name is General George Hammond. His number should be in my cell phone...and probably the Lieutenant's as well. It is under SGC. Use my name to get through to him directly. If he is busy, talk to Walter Harriman. He'll get your message through to the General. If you want to contact another individual about my alibi, you can call Major Sam Carter. She saw me around midnight... So she can prove that as of midnight I was still in Colorado. Which would make it really hard to kill someone in DC. Her number is under 'Sam.' My direct supervisor is Colonel Jack O'Neill. Under 'Jack'."

"Alright. Just wait here. I'll go contact your mystery base and people." Tony left the room with Daniel's cell phone in hand, clearly frustrated.

Daniel lifted his glasses and rubbed his eyes wondering how he had gotten in this position, as Agent Dinozzo left the room. Daniel really hoped that he could get out of this mess before Jack found out or worse was contacted. Jack would help him out of it, of that he had no doubt, but there was the unfortunate side effect of never living it down.

* * * * * * * NCIS/SG-1 * * * * * * * *

Taking a deep breath Tony calmed himself before looking up the two numbers, starting with SGC. Wondering what it could possibly stand for he dialed using his desk phone. An operator answered the phone and asked that he state his name and job, the person he wished to speak to and then the reason for his call. "Special Agent Tony Dinozzo from NCIS, General George Hammond, calling to confirm an alibi for Dr. Jackson." Tony wondered how many times he would have to say it before he got an actual person... to his surprise a person picked up the phone soon after. Leaving him little time to gather his thoughts.

"This is Staff Sergeant Walter Harriman. You can leave a message with me or you can wait while General Hammond finishes his meeting. He should be done in about 2 minutes."

"I'll wait. So do you know Dr. Jackson?" Tony asked not really expecting a positive answer. It was more of a way to pass the time.

"Yep, everyone here on base knows Dr. Jackson." Tony frowned slightly. Was that a good thing or a bad thing?

"Does he have any problems with anyone on base?" Tony asked, curious on this new insight into Mr. 'It's Classified'.

"Nope. Well, _he_ doesn't have any problems with anyone on base. Some of the newer recruits don't understand why we have him, but they'll learn soon enough. They always do." Walter answered promptly. That raised Tony's eyebrows. Before he had a chance to process that information let alone ask another question, Walter continued, "General Hammond just finished. I'll transfer your call now."

The phone rang twice before a voice answered with "Hammond."

"General George Hammond? This is Special Agent Dinozzo from NCIS. I am calling about an alibi for a Dr. Daniel Jackson."

"Alibi for Dr. Jackson? What is wrong? Has something happened? I know he flew into D.C. two days ago… One of our Lieutenants contacted him..." Concern colored the General's voice.

"Dr. Jackson is fine, but a Lieutenant Matthew Graff was murdered three days ago. He had Dr. Jackson's number on him and a note saying that they were supposed to meet yesterday. It is routine to check into the whereabouts of anyone that the victim had contact with before they died."

"I understand, son. I am sorry to hear about Lieutenant Graff. He was going to be promoted soon. He showed great potential." Tony got the feeling that these were not just meaningless words about an unknown party. His gut told him that this General knew everyone under his command, and probably quite well. "What times does Dr. Jackson need verified?" Hammond continued unaware that Tony's respect for the man was growing.

Tony responded, "Dr. Jackson needs an alibi between 10pm on Tuesday and 1am on Wednesday."

"Alright. I'll have Walter bring up the security footage...Yes here it is. Dr. Jackson and his team returned at 10:04pm on Tuesday. Footage shows him exiting the locker rooms at 10:24pm. The de-briefing took place from 10:30 to 11:00pm, after which he went to his office. He left again at 11:56pm and returned with coffee at 12:15am. The mess hall camera shows he bumped into Major Samantha Carter. He left his office again at 2:13am on Wednesday and entered his base quarters. Does that answer any questions you might have regarding Dr. Jackson's alibi?"

"...There is no chance I could get a copy of that footage to have our resident forensic scientist check it out for tampering?"

"Sorry son. It is a classified military base. Unless you know what goes on here all access is restricted."

"Just had to ask. I think that should clear Dr. Jackson. Out of curiosity, why did your program pick Dr. Jackson with his reputation?"

Of all the responses Tony expected, laughter was not one of them. "Son, without Dr. Jackson the program would not exist. Good-bye Agent Dinozzo" with that parting comment he hung up leaving Tony more confused than ever.

Tony looked up the phone number on Daniel's phone and called the next person on the list, a Major Sam Carter, from his desk phone hoping to clear up several of the questions that had just been handed to him.

The phone rang three times before being answered by a young sounding woman. "Hello? How did you get this number?" Certainly not what he was expecting. She sounded annoyed.

"Is this Major Sam Carter?"

"...Yes..." was the wary response.

"I am Very Special Agent Tony Dinozzo with NCIS. Can you verify the whereabouts of Dr. Daniel Jackson between 10pm on Tuesday and 1am on Wednesday?" Tony figured he would get the professional stuff out of the way, especially since he was sure that Dr. Jackson was innocent, before diving into the classified world.

"Daniel? What happened?" The alarm in her voice startled Tony. They sounded close, which was odd, and totally fit with this case.

"Dr. Jackson is fine. A Lieutenant Matthew Graff was killed. Dr. Jackson was set to meet him and we are just following up."

"Lieutenant Graff was killed? Oh no! He was going to be promoted next month... he showed real promise once he got over the hero-worship thing..." She trailed off.

"Major Carter, I know this must be a shock but can you please tell me where Dr. Jackson was between 10pm on Tuesday and 1am on Wednesday?"

"Oh, right. Sorry." She sounded a little sheepish. When she continued her voice was strong. "We returned to base around 10pm on Tuesday and showered and de-briefed from 10:30 to 11pm, after which I headed to my lab. I ran out of coffee shortly before midnight and went to the cafeteria and saw Daniel there as well. We talked for about five minutes before splitting again. I assume he went back to his office. Sorry, that was the last time I saw him until about 8 in the morning. You could check the security cameras...or rather have General Hammond check them for you..." She trailed off.

"That is alright. I already did. Just re-checking all the information I already have. Can't be too careful." Tony responded.

"Trust me, I know what you mean. One slight miscalculation for me and it could be end of a world..." She laughed a little as if it was a private joke.

Deciding now would be a good time to bring up his other questions, he asked "So how did an archeologist get involved with the Air Force?"

She laughed again. "That would be a popular question. Simply put he was invited in by a third party and he never left. Well sort of." She laughed again.

"Now that sounds like a good story."

"It is. Too bad it is classified."

"You sound close..." Tony angled, trying again for more information.

"We are. He is like my brother that I actually get along with. We're a close group here." Tony raised his eyebrows.

"Where is here exactly?"

"Getting the run around? Sorry, that is classified too. Anyway, I have work that I need to get back to. It was nice talking to you Agent Dinozzo." With that she hung up.

After getting abruptly hung up on twice, Tony decided to go in a different direction. Looking into Daniel's comment about being dead, was just the place. He brought up his browser and typed in the information he wanted. To his great surprise he discovered not one, but three death certificates. Armed with more questions than answers about the elusive Dr. Jackson he re-entered the conference room. "Well, General Hammond confirms your alibi via the base cameras. And Major Carter agrees with the tapes so you're good..." Tony stated as he returned Daniel's cell phone. Tony paused for a moment before continuing with his questions, "While I was down there I found something interesting though. You have 3 death certificates. Care to explain how that happens?"

"Really? Only 3? Oh, um... the first...well... classified. The second... I was captured and assumed dead. I was later rescued. The third...definitely classified."

"They put a civilian on the front lines or something?" Tony asked incredulously.

"...Not exactly..." Was the hesitant response from Daniel.

Not wanting to go through another 'question and it's classified' session, Tony let the comment go."Anyway, you can go play with your fellow archeologists now. They are in the conference room next door. Ziva is with them, so there won't be any problems. Apparently, you were right. They haven't figured out, or at least agreed, where to start in deciphering the tablet."

"Joyous. I'd better go help them, hopefully they'll listen to me." He said with a sigh. He left the room. Stopping in the hallway, he found a corner and opened his phone and dialed.

"Hammond." A voice answered after two rings.

"General. It's Daniel. I know Agent DiNozzo just called you and filled you in on what is happening over here." Daniel paused and nodded in acknowledgment as DiNozzo left the room and headed down the stairs.

Hammond filled in the pause. "Yes. A terrible thing to have happen on our home soil. I was just getting to know the man. He could have done so much for this program."

"My thoughts exactly. Anyway, The tablet that Matt wanted me to look at, it's exactly what he thought. NCIS wants my help, and that of two other archeologists, to translate it..." Daniel trailed off not wanting to be over heard.

Knowing what Daniel was about to ask Hammond jumped in. "And you would like permission to fully translate it and possibly teach the other two how to as well?"

"Yes sir. The writing is... peculiar for anyone that doesn't have our scope of understanding. I don't think there is any harm in teaching them. Most likely the tablet has little to nothing to do with the Lieutenant's murder." Daniel stated knowing that Hammond would understand that he didn't think that the Trust was involved.

"Alright, son. I trust your judgment. Do you what you feel is best."

"Thank you sir."

"And Daniel? Good luck." Hammond stated kindly as a farewell before hanging up.

With the green light from General Hammond, Daniel entered the other conference room. Three heads looked over at him, two older men and a young female who Daniel was able to classify as highly dangerous thanks to his training. She looked foreign, Israeli maybe or somewhere in that area. Daniel nodded his head at the two gentlemen before addressing the woman. "You must be Ziva. It is nice to meet you." He offered his hand to her.

"You must be Dr. Jackson." She responded.

'You're accent... Israeli? And please, call me Daniel."

"Yes. I am Israeli. Have you spent a lot of time over there?"

"Some. I went on a few digs in that area several years ago and studied your language as well." He said smiling to her before turning to the room's other occupants. "Dr. Ward. Dr. Knowlton." He acknowledged them politely. "It is... good to see you looking well." He said with some slightly forced politeness.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were dead." Dr. Knowlton stated.

"I was invited here, same as you. A common misconception. I am, as you can see, perfectly alive and well. So what have you gotten off this tablet so far?"

"Nothing about aliens I assure you." Dr. Ward said dryly.

"I came to look at an ancient tablet with as of yet un-deciphered writing. I didn't come to steal your credit or make a fool of you. Can we please just move on? It was eight years ago and I haven't been in the academic world since then. That does not mean, however, that I am unaware of what is going on in the academic circles or that I am out of practice. I simply here to translate a tablet not cry 'alien' every chance I get. So are we going to cooperate or are you two going to work together and I will work by myself?"

"If you are willing to be serious and not act like this is a joke, then yes we can work together." Dr. Knowlton said evenly. Dr. Ward scowled but nodded as well showing his agreement.

"Alright then, what do you have do far?" He asked ignoring the first part of the sentence, between growing up in foster care and joining the SGC he had gotten pretty good at ignoring petty remarks made by people who didn't matter. The SGC had given him a strong support group allowing him to see that anyone outside that circle didn't matter, and that included the two men in front of him.

"Er... that is just it. We have no idea where to even begin. You know that my abilities lie in research not translation and Dr. Ward's expertise lies in Ancient Egypt with some studies in other cultures. As much as I hate to say it, you are the one with the broadest expertise in the field of archeology."

"Good to know that despite the paper, people still recognize my talents. Anyway, I was given a copy to look over before I came in here. I was thinking that it could possibly be a form of ancient Latin with a slight detour into Runic alphabet of the Celtics... I would suggest using the Runic alphabet to get a basis then use the oldest known form of Latin and work it through that way..." Daniel looked at them to see how they would take his...suggestion.

Having already read what was on the tablet, he saw no harm in teaching the two men before him how to read it. Daniel actually had money on the fact that once they finished translating it they would think that he had been wrong. The tablet was quite fascinating from the view point of an archeologist, but that was it. It was a story about how the Ancients had fled from the Lost City because of life-sucking monsters. Completely amazing, if one knew about the Stargate program but otherwise it seemed impossible. There were only so many ways to take 'life-sucking' monster, and most people would assume vampire...except the concept of vampires didn't exist until Vlad the Impaler and didn't become popular until Bram Stoker wrote _Dracula_. Therefore the two men in front of him, being narrow-minded, would assume that he had made an error. It really was the perfect solution.

"That...that could work."Dr. Knowlton admitted and even Dr. Ward looked please about getting somewhere. The two men eagerly bent their heads together to work on the tablet before realizing that they did not have the required texts. They glanced at each other before coming to a decision. "Dan... Dr. Jackson, do you have any texts that we may borrow in regards to the Runic alphabet and archaic Latin? I am familiar with a...slightly more recent form of Latin rather than the archaic..."

Daniel started at being addressed by his title. "Uh, actually I didn't bring any. I initially came to D.C. because a friend was going to give me a copy of the tablet which I would then take home to all of my materials. I was not expecting to have to do the translation here..." Daniel trailed off.

"You didn't bring any?! Why would NCIS contact you if they didn't want you to translate it here?! They could have just sent you an e-mail! Of all of the outrageous things..." Dr. Ward exploded at Daniel.

"Hey! I didn't bring anything because I wasn't contacted by NCIS. I was contacted by my friend who is now downstairs lying on an autopsy table. Matt was a good man. He is the reason I am here, NCIS contacted me because Matt contacted me. So yes, I thought I was going to take the copy back to Colorado." Daniel glared at them. Taking a deep breath, he said more calmly, "Now I can tell you what references you are going to need, but don't tell me I am irresponsible because I didn't haul half of my library with me from Colorado."

Dr. Ward looked taken aback. Dr. Knowlton looked apologetic, "I am sorry. I had no idea he was a friend of yours..." Knowlton trailed off, unsure of what else to say.

Daniel took pity on the man and smiled at him, "It's fine. You had no way of knowing." Daniel turned to Ziva and said, "Is there any way that you can get us access...no wait a minute." Daniel began searching his pockets before remembering something, "Actually I can just call someone from where I work and have them scan and e-mail me the correct documents. Can I have a pen and paper to write down the titles I am going to need?"

Ziva smirked, "Tony always steals the paper from the conference room...I'll be right back." She left the room without a sound, only increasing the idea that Ziva was a dangerous person to cross.

"Probably Mossad..." he mumbled to himself, and decided to ask her when she got back. He turned to the men again and said, "So... this might take a while. There is a lot of information to send via e-mail... though Sam may be able to fix that..." he trailed off, wondering if Sam could somehow compress the file and send it quickly. Though just finding and scanning everything would take a while. Thankfully Ziva walked back into the room before it got any more awkward.

"Here is some."

Daniel thanked her and took it. After hesitating for a moment, he asked, "Are you Mossad?"

Ziva looked startled for a moment. "I used to be. What gave it away?"

"Your movements. Your ability to move without a sound, really. That sort of thing has to be trained, and since you are Israeli the logical choice seemed to be Mossad. Of course you could have just studied for a long period of time, but your eyes told a different story." Daniel pushed his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose, breaking eye contact seeming embarrassed.

Ziva took a second to really observe the archeologist in front of her. Actually, if she saw him on the street she probably would have assumed he was a soldier of some sort. He had a look in his eyes that proved that he had seen combat first hand and the way he held himself also gave it away. He only appeared relaxed, he was actually observing every detail around him as if he was expecting an attack. Tempting though it was to see how he would react, she did not attack. Instead she simply said, "You have been trained well."

"Thanks. But I can't take any of the credit. That goes to Jack and... Murray. Sam taught me a little hand to hand as well." Daniel shrugged again, this time definitely looking embarrassed.

Ziva decided to change the subject, "I am sorry about your friend. He was the Lieutenant, wasn't he? Did you know him well?"

"Yea, he was the Lieutenant. I only knew him for a short while but he was a good kid. He was going to go far in the program... Anyway, I had better call and see if Sam can't get the information we need in a timely manner." Daniel joked and turned around and walked into a corner to try and get some privacy.

The phone rang three times on the other end before a voice picked up, "Daniel I swear if this isn't life or death I am going to kill you myself. I was so close to being able to reverse engineer the As-"

Daniel quickly cut her off, "Sam, not the time. I'm at NCIS right now. Lieutenant Graff is dead. He had a copy of an Ancient tablet with him. NCIS wants my help to decipher it, but I need you to scan and e-mail some documents for me and some colleagues." hoping Sam would get the message that there were other people around so he couldn't talk freely.

"I know I spoke to one of the NCIS agents. He didn't say how Graff died though. How did it happen?" Sam asked.

"He was shot three times. Once in the shoulder, another in the leg, and a final one in the head." Daniel stated clinically. He added in a softer tone, "You know he was the reason I was in D.C.? He wanted me to confirm that the tablet was in Ancient and then translate it. Which I did. It was nothing that would have gotten him killed." Raising his voice slightly he continued, "There was another man with him who was also killed. I don't know the name but I doubt it would mean anything to me anyway. Seemed like the other guy was the main target. At least that is what the forensic expert said, and I believe it."

Sam took a moment to process that. "So it wasn't anything to do with the SGC that got him killed. I can't help but be a little thankful for that. At least his parents can have the full story of his death even if they can't have the full story of his life. So, what did you call about anyway? I know it wasn't to talk about Graff, at least not entirely."

Daniel chuckled a little. "Too right. I actually need you to do me a favor. I need materials to translate this Ancient writing. Can you go into my office and scan the items I tell you to?"

"Sure, but since when do you need your notes to translate Ancient? Oh, wait a minute you said colleagues earlier. They thought multiple heads would make it easier. Oh that sucks. Sure, I can scan a few documents and send them through to you."

"Great. Most of them will be buried in the far left corner, there is one archaic Latin book that I am going to need, which is just to your right as you enter. It should be laying on top of the shelf...unless someone borrowed it.."

"Nope it's there." Sam replied.

"Good. Now the next one is..." Daniel continued to point Sam unerringly to where each of the required books would be. There was about ten in total. "Great, so if you could just scan those and then send them to my public e-mail that would be great. Thanks Sam, you're a life saver." He turned to the room's other occupants, "Sam says she should have everything scanned and sent to me in a few hours..." Glancing at his watch he noticed the time. "So, lunch anyone?"

He paused for a moment, before remembering something. Quickly taking out his cell phone he called Abby. "Hey, Abby. You have time for a lunch break? We are at a bit of a standstill up here until Sam can send us the texts we need..."

"Sure! If you want to pick something up and then bring it down to my lab. I can't leave, I'm still waiting on some results for Gibbs. There is a deli just down the street that had great food. It's called 'Al's Deli'. Can you grab me their famous Club sandwich?" Abby responded.

"Can do Abby. I'll grab the food and see you soon." Daniel hung up the phone and turn to the other occupants. "Sorry, I promised Abby I would call her for lunch today. She can be rather scary when she gets mad. Do you guys want me to pick up anything while I'm out? Since Abby works in the building I'll be coming right back..." He informed them. The two other Dr.'s shook their heads.

"You're going to Al's Deli, then? It's Abby's favorite. I was actually planning on some Chinese. It's Tony's day to pick and pay. So I will decline. Thank you though. You'd better get going. Abby gets cranky when she gets hungry." Ziva commented with a teasing tone. Daniel smiled and left to go get lunch.

Soon after Daniel left, Ziva stood up and opened the drawer in front of her and took out several take-out menu's from local places. Handing them over to the remaining occupants she said, "Here are some take-out menu's. They deliver here often so you don't have to worry about giving them an actual address. Just say it is for NCIS. Or you may sign out and come back. The choice is yours" with that being said she left the room to go get her own lunch knowing that Tony usually returned with lunch around this time of day.

* * * * * * * NCIS/SG-1 * * * * * * * *

As Ziva entered the bullpen she heard Tony and McGee discussing the warrior-trained archeologist that just left to go get himself and Abby some lunch. McGee was laughing at Tony's description of the man. "I swear this guy is like Indiana Jones if Indiana Jones was involved with a covert ops Air Force team. I mean every third word out of his mouth was 'classified'. It was annoying to say the least. I mean the guy has three, not one, but three! Death certificates! It's insane! What is he? Part-cat? I mean, come on! How many times can this guy die?" Tony ended his rant and looked to his companions.

Ziva choose to pipe in at this moment. "He has been well-trained. In a style I am unfamiliar with. Some is recognizable as classic American military but the rest, I do not know. He guessed I was Mossad based solely on my accent and movements. It was most impressive." Tony and McGee just looked shocked at her information. Ziva being unable to recognize a style of martial arts was unheard of.

Tim decided to add in his own two cents, "So how does a covert Indiana Jones know our Abby? I mean their areas of expertise are in two completely different worlds, so how did they meet? The only thing that they even remotely have in common seem to be aliens, so unless they met at an alien convention I don't see how they could have met. And Abby isn't the type of person to go to that kind of convention..."

"Nor does Classified Jones seem to be the type..."

All three paused for a moment, thinking about the implications before the silence was broken by a fourth voice, "If you three girls are done gossiping, could we get on with the case?" in a tone dripping with sarcasm.

A click of a mouse and all four heads turned to the plasma as the agents filled their boss in on what they had gotten so far.

"Security cameras have Lieutenant Graff and Scott Sutherland meeting at 'Classic's' for a drink around 10pm on Tuesday. They left shortly before 10:30. Wallets and ID were taken, and the phones were smashed. Background checks on the two vics came back squeaky clean, Boss." Ziva and McGee filled in what they knew and soon the lunch break was over.

* * * * * * * NCIS/SG-1 * * * * * * * *

Meanwhile in Abby's lair, Daniel and Abby were re-hashing the old times, and playing the game that introduced them: chess. They were the only ones that could keep up and challenge the other. Puzzles were what they did. They often had weekly chess matches online. During a particularly vicious match where Daniel had just captured Abby's queen by sacrificing his bishop and Abby had stolen both of Daniel's rooks, a beep sounded over the music and Abby jumped up.

"What is it?" Daniel asked curiously.

"This is what we have been waiting for." Abby paused for a moment and then smiled. "I'll tell you in a few seconds when Gibbs gets here."

Daniel felt his sixth sense going off. Someone was coming this way, it was slightly similar to the feeling he often got when Jack was in a pranking mood. In other words, no danger but be on the lookout. Deciding to enlighten his companion, he said, "I think your friend is on his way, because someone is coming."

Abby looked at him in surprise and then stopped to listen for a moment. Hearing nothing she asked, "How do you know?" Before Daniel could reply he was interrupted by said person.

"How does he know what Abs?"

"Gibbs! That you were coming. We were just discussing you coming down here and then Daniel said that someone was coming and I listened and didn't hear anything and then asked 'how did he know' because you always appear without warning and I wanted to know how he knew." Abby explained in her usual detailed way.

Gibbs interrupted before she could start on another tangent. "What do you got Abs?"

"The tire tracks that were found close to the scene just came in. They are made by a fairly popular company..." She paused for dramatic effect.

As usual, Gibbs ruined it and cut to the chase, "That it Abs?"

"Of course not!" Sounding slightly indignant. "They are used by most commercial trucking companies... Including the one our contractor friend, Scott Sutherland, works at. H.R. Shipping just outside of DC."

"Thanks Abs." With the presentation of a Caf-Pow and a kiss on the cheek he headed back up to the squad room. He paused at the doorway and turned to look at Daniel. "You're with me" and resumed his walk to the elevator. With a glance at Abby, Daniel turned and followed Gibbs out of the room and into the elevator.

Gibbs was silent as he led Daniel through the squad room and into Interrogation Room 1. He noticed when Tony, McGee, and Ziva, joined by Abby who had just exited the stairs, followed behind and entered the observation room. Gibbs sat down in his usual spot and Daniel sat opposite looking completely relaxed, alert but relaxed. Gibbs looked over the man for the first time. Giving the archeologist a through once over he found a solider staring back at him, one who had seen combat, and a lot of it.

"You're not an ordinary archeologist." It was a statement. Daniel chose not to respond. It was clear that Gibbs was the silent observant type who trusted his first impression of a person. Nothing Daniel could say would change that, and honestly, Gibbs was right. Gibbs's next question actually required an answer. "How did you and the Lieutenant meet?"

"He was new around base and so I showed him around. He was a good kid. Straight out of the academy."

"Did you know Scott Sutherland? He was a civilian contractor with the Army at Quantico."

"No. I'm afraid the only military I know are those that I work with at my base."

"And where is that exactly?"

"Colorado Springs." Daniel said simply.

"NORAD?"

"No. But close." Gibbs raised an eyebrow at that.

"There is nothing in Colorado Springs but NORAD." This time it was Daniel's turn to raise the brow. Teal'c had taught him well.

Daniel didn't seem to be lying; Gibbs decided to come back to it later. Moving on he asked "Your year long absence last year. Where were you?"

Daniel chuckled. "You won't believe me. Let's just say it's classified."

"Where were you?"

"Everywhere. Nowhere. Can't really remember. It is classified, so even if I did remember I couldn't say."

In the observation room Tony was laughing, sure Gibbs would get something out of Classified Jones. Ziva was watching the interaction closely having never seen anyone who wasn't at least a little afraid of Gibbs. McGee and Abby were discussing the archeologist and how she had met him. Ziva and Tony stopped what they were doing to listen. Their curiosity on how two completely different people met and bonded making them stop and listen to the explanation.

"He transferred into my high school the fourth week of my sophomore year. He was a senior. As a foster kid he was an outcast. Since he had transferred in the fourth week people assumed he had just changed foster homes, which he had, and was therefore a troublemaker, which he wasn't. Anyway, it wasn't just his status as a foster kid that made him an outcast. He is a certifiable genius. School came too easily for him...so looking for some kind of challenge, he joined the chess club where he met yours truly. Up until that point I was unchallenged. I was pretty good. He was better. Not by much though. So we played and talked and got to know each other. We have kept in touch since he left for college."

Tony broke the silence first, "Chess club? You were in chess club?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Yes Tony, I was. It's not like they had a science club or something like that. Besides my dad and I played chess. It was something that we could share together without the need for sound." Abby explained slightly hurt. Silence fell and everyone attention reverted back to the show in the other room.

Gibbs was starting to get frustrated by all the non-answers. Refusing to show it, he continued questioning. "What do you do for the Air Force?"

"I work as a translator."

"What languages?"

"Russian mostly. Some Chinese and French on occasion."

"Why didn't they just hire a translator?" Gibbs asked shrewdly, knowing something was off.

"...I came...recommended..." This time Daniel didn't elaborate.

"By whom?"

"A third party." Daniel stated simply.

"Who?" Gibbs growled, allowing some frustration to show in his voice.

"Someone I met when they were younger. I wasn't aware of it until much later." Daniel smiled at the classified memory of 1969.

"When did you get involved in the program?"

"Back in 1995."

"How did you get involved in the program?" Gibbs tried a different tactic.

"I was invited in. They needed a translation done and the third party person approached me with a job offer. Seeing as I was in the middle of the paper disaster and running low on funds, I accepted. I got the translation done and the rest is classified."

Giving up finding the identity of the third party for the moment, he tried another question hoping to shake the archeologist into giving something up, "What training have you had?"

Daniel looked surprised and paused for a moment. "I've had some combat training. I can use a P-90, a 9-mil and a few others. I have had a few self-defense courses but mostly just training from my teammates. A little of this and that. The program's actual training is classified."

Just as Gibbs was about to ask another question, Daniel's phone went off. "Sorry, it's Sam. She probably finished scanning the books for the translation." Opening the phone he answered it, "Hello?"

Back in the observation room four mouths hung open. Abby recovered first and giggled. "That is so Daniel. So unconcerned with his surroundings. Focused on a single thing. I bet that translation is going through his mind at full-speed. Daniel probably doesn't even realize what he is doing." A loud 'what?' from the other room brought their attention back to Dr. Jackson and Gibbs.

"Sam, you can't be serious. I thought only Jack had to go to that. I could see him dragging you along but me? And Te—Murray? That's ridiculous." There was a pause as response occurred from the other side of the phone. "I know he wants to meet all of us and Jack is using that... Oh I see. Hopefully I can get this all wrapped up before then.." There was another pause. "Alright. Just please don't let Jack know what is going on. I'll never live it down, just please keep it from him as long as possible." Another pause. "Thanks Sam. I'll owe you one." With that said, he hung up and turned to Gibbs.

"Sam just e-mailed me the references to get a start on the translation. Is there anyway I can get back to the conference room and get started? Apparently I have somewhere to be tomorrow night..." He sounded slightly unhappy about that. "Anyway, I would love to get some work done on the translation..." Daniel got up slowly and waited to be excused and Gibbs dismissed him with a wave. "Thanks." Daniel left the room and headed towards the conference room. Now all he had to do was finish this before Jack and the others got to DC tomorrow afternoon.

* * * * * * * NCIS/SG-1 * * * * * * * *

As Daniel re-entered the room he heard the two colleagues discussing some new digging technique that was supposed to make it harder to damage the fragile artifacts. The conversation that was going on stalled as they both fell silent when they heard the door open and saw Daniel walk in. Daniel ignored them and opened his e-mail on the computer in the conference room. He downloaded the attached files and opened them up. He quickly chose the items he thought would be most relevant and printed them off. Turning to the other occupants in the room he said, "So are you ready to get started?"

Silence alerted him to their regained reluctance to work with the infamous Dr. Jackson. "Are we going to have to go through this again? I am not here to steal credit nor cry 'alien'. I am here in memory of a friend and as a favor to yet another friend. While my paper may have isolated me from academic circles it did not make my friends isolate themselves from me. Now, I am going to translate this tablet with or without your help. So, will we be working together or will I be working solo?"

The two professors glanced at each other before nodding. They moved over to make room for Daniel at their end of the table. "Okay then. Let's get started." Without waiting for a response, he placed his papers on the table and started pointing out what appeared to be the corresponding Runic alphabet character.

Four hours later showed little progress. The professors disagreed with Daniel which archaic Latin form to actually use and they disagreed with each other on which Latin letter with which runic alphabet character. Daniel sighed. He was tired of arguing with them. While he was fairly certain that they were disagreeing with him just to be contrary, the fact that they were disagreeing with each other and him on the runic alphabet to the Latin alphabet made him wonder how they were ever able to work together on so many papers.

Deciding to end this before something regrettable happened, he stood up and said, "It's getting late. Let's continue this tomorrow and give our heads a chance to rest. I'll be here by 9 in the morning, maybe earlier if I can get in. I have something important tomorrow night that I have to make an appearance at apparently. I really hope we won't have to repeat our _earlier_ conversations..." He trailed off as he looked at them meaningfully leaving little doubt as to what conversation he was referring to. Turning to McGee who had entered the room in the second hour, he asked, "Is there anyway that I can get into this conference room before 9 when you officially open?"

"Yes. I'll give your name to the security guard and tell him to let you in. Will your colleagues be joining you?"

Daniel winced slightly at McGee's understandable blunder of putting him in a group with 'reputable' archeologists wondering if the other two would take offense. Dr. Knowlton probably wouldn't care, or at least point it out. Dr. Ward on the other had was an unknown factor. He had a temper when set off and the last four hours had tried all of their patience.

"He is not _my _colleague! He believes in aliens! How dare you put me on the same level as him?! I am a well-respected person everywhere. He is just a name everyone laughs at. Did you know that when someone in my field makes a giant blunder they call it pulling a 'Jackson'? So don't you dare call him my colleague." Dr. Ward expressed hotly, his face flushed from his emotions.

McGee took a half step back initially at the sheer intensity of Dr. Ward's voice, however as the rant continued McGee re-took his place and straightened his back. He was not impressed by Dr. Ward's attack on someone that was just helping, it didn't matter what he once did or believed, he was _helping_ which was all that really matted. Additionally, he was an old friend of Abby's. No one attacked a friend of Abby's while a member of team Gibbs was around and frankly, McGee respected what little he had seen of Dr. Jackson. So McGee took a small breath before saying, "Just because you don't respect him doesn't mean that others don't or that he is unworthy of it. So he believes in something you don't, so what? Do I have no respect for Ziva because she is Jewish and believes in a different god? No. Just because someone believes in something you don't doesn't make them unworthy of being considered your equal. From what I have seen he respects you and is willing to work with you despite your dislike of him. You are all archeologists which means you're all in the same field and hence colleagues. The term applies whether or not you want it to." McGee took a deep breath and covertly glanced at the other two occupants. Daniel looked slightly stunned and Dr. Knowlton looked ashamed, at himself or his colleague McGee couldn't tell. Turning to the other accredited archeologist, he questioned, "While I assume your colleague is not coming in until 9, will you be here early as well?"

"I am afraid not. The trip and the change of time zones have left me rather exhausted and in need of some quality rest. I will be here at 9 as well." Dr. Knowlton explained. McGee nodded his head. "I will inform security. Have a nice night and see you all tomorrow." With a nod of his head he left the room and a couple of 'night's followed him out.

* * * * * * * NCIS/SG-1 * * * * * * * *

At 8 o'clock sharp Daniel walked into NCIS. He went through security with no problems and headed down to Abby's lab to say 'good morning' before starting his work. Loud music greeted him as he exited the elevator just like it had on the previous day. "Hey Abby." Daniel spoke as he entered the lab knowing that despite years of loud music Abby's hearing was as good as ever.

Sure enough a surprised "Daniel!" answered him which was followed quickly by a hug. "So do we get to hang out sometime today? I hardly saw you yesterday. Which I totally understand but still, it was disappointing. So, do I get to see you today?"

"Sorry Abby, but I just found out that I have a... party to go to tonight. I came in early to try and finish the translation before I have to go to it." Daniel sighed. "Not that I want to go, but the...host isn't exactly the type of person you can say no to."

"Who is he? The President? I can't really think of anyone else that you can''t say no to...then again I guess your boss would be, but you work in Colorado so it stands to reason that your boss would also be in Colorado."

"Yep."

"Wait...you mean it's the President? Or that it's your boss?"

"The President, but my boss told me I have to go." Daniel answered with a chuckle.

"No way! You actually get to meet the big man? That is so cool! I mean wow. Why does he want to meet you? Not that you're not a great person but it normally takes more than just that. So why does the man on the hill himself want you to go?"

Daniel sighed and repeated the answer he had been giving for the last day, "It's classified Abby. Sorry." His tone was apologetic.

"Aw, come on Danny! Surely you can give me more than that!"

"Sorry Abby but I really can't. You know I would if I could." Glancing at his watch he noted that 15 minutes of his 'colleague-free' time had elapsed. "I'll try to catch you for lunch again. I have to get to work on that translation."

Abby pouted for a second before becoming serious. "You'd better catch me for lunch, or else mister!"

"Alright." With one last quick hug from Abby he left her lab and headed for the conference room he had used the previous day. His materials were exactly as he had left them. Grateful he wouldn't have to re-dig them all out for appearance's sake for the other two doctors. He sat down and began translating without the use of resources. He kept his ears open for when his colleagues arrived so he could grab a few books and at least appear to be consulting them. He was about a third of the way done with the written translation, it would be impossible to explain if he had the whole thing finished. He was using the extra time to re-familiarize himself with the archaic Latin, the Runic alphabet was still extremely similar to the Asgard language from which it was derived so there was no need for a refresher. He had just reached the one-third marker when he heard steps nearing his location. Thankfully he was taking a break, meaning he was reviewing the Latin language, so he simply moved the translation-in-progress in front of him and shifted his posture from leaning back to leaning forward and thus he was ready when the door opened to reveal Drs Ward and Knowlton and their baby-sitter for the day, Agent Dinozzo.

"So are you brainiacs ready to finish this thing?" Dinozzo asked. Unable to stop his cocky attitude from slipping into his dialogue.

"Already got a third of it done." Daniel responded. He turned to the other two and said, "So, are we going to work together today?" Unsure which answer he wanted. It would be far easier to finish it on his own, but stalling without seeming to stall would pose a problem that would be made immensely easier with them. He was answered with a sigh and a nod from Dr Ward and Dr. Knowlton respectively. "Alright then. Here is what I have so far." He handed over his translation. Thankfully there hadn't been any mention of the Lost City or life-sucking monsters. He watched with some trepidation as they looked at what he had done and evaluated it against some scale of theirs.

Apparently deciding it was good, or at least withholding judgment for the moment, they sat down and waited for Daniel to explain how he had done it. As Daniel explained, the two looked confused so he stopped his explanation and simply showed them.

Watching the interactions of the three was very amusing for Tony as an outsider. The two 'official' archeologists were confused by the explanation of an archeological important translation the third member of the party was giving, the no-longer archeologist. One of them clearly distrusted the source of the information and the other had a look that said he was disappointed in the third, probably for his 'wasted' potential. The 'non-official' archeologist was clearly passionate about what he was explaining and was unfazed by the emotions of the others. Dr. Jackson clearly had this all in hand. The trio with their heads bent over the translation and Dr. Jackson's passion strongly reminded him of Nicholas Cage's National Treasure complete with the disrespect and disgust that Dr. Jackson had incurred from his peers. While the movie wasn't that great it fit the situation strangely well. Shaking his head, he settled himself in one of the more comfortable seats for a few hours of dead time until Gibbs sent another baby-sitter.

* * * * * * * NCIS/SG-1 * * * * * * * *

A few hours later, Tony was contemplating the appeal of locking the group in a small enclosed space until they were ready to get along. Tony was really starting to admire Dr. Jackson's patience. He may have been the cause of the tension in the room but he was also the one that kept it from exploding into anything more than squabbling. The room stilled as the door opened to reveal Special Agent McGee with lunch. "Oh thank god" Tony breathed. "I'm not sure how much more I could take before I went postal and locked them all up."

A snort redirected the attention to Dr. Jackson. "Sorry. You just sound like a good friend of mine. Except that he would probably carry through with it. He has little patience for anything science-related...unless it is going to save our butts and even then as long as it works he doesn't really care how. Or astronomy."

"Huh. Your friend kinda sounds like Gibbs, except for the astronomy part..." Tony mused aloud.

"You have no idea." Daniel responded in kind. " I noticed it when I first met him. Gibbs is former military right? I'd guess marine."

"Yep. And if your use of the word former is anything to go by, you definitely have spent time around military." As if noticing the other two archeologists for the first time he explained, "there is no such thing as an ex-marine. Only former marines."

"Yep. Except in Jack's case it's more like they won't let him retire. He's tried to leave at least twice since I've known him. They keep dragging him back in, if this keeps up they are going to have to promote him which wouldn't be a good idea since he is the worst politician. Speaks what is on his mind come hell or high water. Trust me, I've been in both situations with him, he never changes. I assume Gibbs is the same way..."

"Oh yeah. Definitely. Gotta be a military thing." Daniel and Tony exchanged smiles. Tony turned to McGee, "So your turn to watch the eggheads?"

"Yep. Gibbs wants you to run down some leads."

"Good. I could use some action." With a small backwards wave he left the room and shut the door behind him.

McGee turned to the other three as he set down the food on the table. "So how far have you gotten?"

"We're a little over half way. Which all things considered is not bad. We did a little back-tracking, double checking, debating over characters, things like that." Daniel rolled his eyes slightly at that, which went unseen by the other two who were behind him.

"So what does the tablet say so far?"

'That is why we are running into trouble. Here let me read to you what we have so far." Daniel picked up the tablet and read, "_After being driven back from our strongholds we had only the great city left. Though even that is under siege. With no options remaining to us, we were forced to sink the city to the bottom of the ocean in order survive. Not even the oceans can protect our home. It is only a matter of time now. The end of this war is drawing near, and I fear we will not be the victors. Our last hope, has not yet returned with the information. Though the war is nearly over, we refused to submit to the terrible beings that suck life and only leave behind a withered corpse..._" Daniel trailed off. "That is as far as we've gotten. It could be a story of the culture to explain-"

"There are several problems with that theory." Dr. Knowlton interrupted. "Starting with this talk of a great city sinking to the bottom of the ocean. This stone predates anything that even remotely deals with the fabled city of Atlantis. Skeptical at best and then you combine it with the other part of terrible life-sucking monsters and it is too insane. I might buy Dr. Jackson's theory if it were only the city, but vampires? The notion of vampires didn't even come into being until Vlad the Impaler and Bram Stoker wrote _Dracula_ which, needless to say, is far too late for this tablet to know anything about." Dr. Knowlton concluded.

"Well if you're translating it correctly then maybe it is a hoax? Could someone have found a really old rock and then written on it?" McGee questioned. "It seems a little unlikely that an incorrect translation would be...readable..." McGee seemed to struggle for the appropriate word.

"You mean coherent. And yes, I agree with you, it may just be a hoax. Which is why I am at least trying to get them to finish it with the translation we are currently using. This writing has never been discovered before. I wonder if the person made a computer program to turn what they wrote into what was supposed to be gibberish and then put it on the tablet-"

"We don't need any of your theories. They don't do anything for you but get you ridiculed and I refuse to be a part of that." Dr. Ward went off again.

McGee decided it was his turn to step in. "Enough. Would you please just finish the translation with what you have and then you can go back to whatever you were doing and forget about this whole thing, alright?" It seemed those were the magic words because Dr Ward huffed, grabbed a sandwich and then returned to his seat. Dr Knowlton and Daniel followed suit. Within minutes the three were engrossed in their work, and arguing. Deciding McGee had done his job already he sat back and waited for something to change.

The change came an hour later when Gibbs entered the room. "Boss?" McGee questioned.

"Financials and phone records of Scott Sutherland."

"You think he was the target, boss?" Gibbs' exasperated look said it all. "Right, on it." McGee rushed out of the room, presumably to his computer.

Gibbs turned his attention to the rest of the room and they soon returned to their work. Gibbs focused his attention on Dr. Daniel Jackson, trying to figure out his secrets by watching. Daniel put up with Gibbs's staring for a full hour before he spoke. "Agent Gibbs, I can assure you that watching me will not suddenly allow you to read my mind or figure out the secrets of the universe."

"I just want to know who killed the marine and his friend and why. That is all I am interested in."

"And you think I have the answers?" Daniel guessed.

"No. But you know something that might help us bring down their killer."

Daniel sighed, "Believe me, if I thought it would help bring their killer to justice I would tell you, or at the very least offer the services of my team to help you track him down."

"You have a lot of experience with catching criminals?"

"Some" was Daniel's noncommittal answer.

Gibbs surveyed Daniel. "How would a bunch of translators help us track down a killer?"

"Just because I am a translator doesn't mean my team is."

"So your team is Air Force then?"

Daniel looked startled for a moment and then recovered. "That would be the logical conclusion, yes." He replied evenly.

Not wanting to get another 'it's classified' Gibbs turned the conversation to something he knew he could get an answer about. "How close are you?"

Quickly understanding the query Daniel replied, "Nearly there. All signs point to either a hoax or a revolutionary new culture which was the source of world-wide myths...that or this tablet somehow is coherent despite translating it incorrectly."

Gibbs grunted. "So unlikely as the reason the two were killed..."Gibbs thought aloud. "Good work. You're free to go once you've finished the translation." Gibbs directed at the two forgotten occupants. Gibbs gave Daniel a look meaning he's the one that is going to be reporting the findings and, without waiting for a response, left the conference room.

Daniel turned to the other archeologists in the room. "So the quicker we finish the less you'll have to deal with me and I you." He drove back into work, not giving either of them a chance to comment on either his statement or his conversation with Gibbs.

* * * * * * * NCIS/SG-1 * * * * * * * *

Tony was interrupted an hour after Gibbs had returned by Joe the security guard leading three people towards his desk. Tony's eyes drifted over the three. The one leading the group was a silver-haired man of average stature and sharp eyes and a relaxed posture with his hands in his pockets, next to him was a beautiful leggy blonde with a determined stride and the one in the back of the group was a large black male who looked like he could take on Mr. T without a problem. Tony's attention was refocused on the blonde as she spoke. "Special Agent DiNozzo?"

"Yes. What can I help you with ma'm?" Tony replied with a wide grin.

"I'm Major Samantha Carter. This is Colonel Jack O'Neill" she motioned to the older man, "and this is Murray" the huge black man bowed his head slightly as she indicated toward him. "We spoke on the phone..." Sam paused waiting for the recognition to come. It took less than half a second.

"Of course. We spoke about Dr. Jackson's alibi." The colonel sniggered a bit at that.

"Is Daniel still here? We have an... appointment that we all have to attend tonight." She glared a bit at the colonel who looked slightly sheepish.

"C'mon Carter. I apologized already. How was I supposed to know he would take my joke seriously!" The colonel practically whined.

"Because he had already tried to get us to go to this thing as a group several times. You just had to open your mouth and tell him Daniel was already in DC!" She turned her attention back to Tony now that the colonel was put in his place. "Sorry about that."

Tony decided to take his cue and ignore the conversation that had just taken place. "Dr. Jackson is upstairs in the conference room finishing a translation that was on a tablet." Tony pointed to the room. "He should be free to go after that."

The colonel groaned. "You gave him rocks to translate? We'll never get him out of here. Let alone to the party on time." Shaking his head the colonel took charge. "T, see if you can go drag Danny-boy away from his beloved rocks. Carter, go with him. I'll be up shortly. I just need to convince these people that letting Daniel leave now is a matter of national security." Carter paused for a moment as if to argue and then thought better of it and turned and followed the big guy.

Tony preempted the conversation. "So national security? To attend a party?" Tony allowed disbelief to color his voice.

"Yep!" Was the colonel's reply.

"You're joking right."

The colonel sighed. "If only! You know that fancy dinner party the White House is having tonight?"

"Yeah, it is why I am going to get out of here as early as possible. The traffic really backs up. Wait. You're going to that?!"

"I wish I wasn't. I can't stand politics."

"I know the feeling." They chuckled a little at that. "So why are you going?" Tony asked bluntly.

"Because the President wants to meet us. And you don't say no to the President of the United States." Jack stated with a wry smile.

Tony looked at him, trying to decide if the colonel was joking or not. "You're serious..." He stated with slight disbelief.

"Yep. So any chance we can grab Daniel and go?"

"Well I don't have the authority to release Dr. Jackson from the translation...or rather I'll let my boss do it so he won't bite my head off when he finds out I let the only good expert we have go before the translation was complete." Tony started to move towards Gibbs's desk when Jack's arm reached out to stop him.

"What do you mean 'only good expert'? There are other archeologists here? In the same room as Daniel?" Jack asked in a slightly alarmed voice.

Tony looked startled for a moment. "Yes...Dr Jackson had no problem working with them but they had a slight issue working with him. There has been some, okay a lot, of arguing but Dr Jackson keeps it contained. He explained the history he has with them." Tony shrugged.

"Daniel will work with anybody if it accomplishes the goal. I don't know the history he has with these particular guys but I can bet it isn't good. Daniel's paper destroyed his career and burned basically every single bridge he had in his academic community. Nothing good can come from this..." Jack explained before he hurried towards the conference room leaving a slightly confused Tony behind.

* * * * * * * NCIS/SG-1 * * * * * * * *

Upon opening the door to the conference room, an argument greeted Sam's and Teal'c's ears. An older man was berating Daniel about whatever he was translating. Deciding to intervene before it got any worse, Sam said loudly, "So I guess the materials I sent over were helpful?"

Silence greeted her query until Daniel sighed loudly in relief. "Sam. Good to see you too Murray. Sam, Murray, this is Dr Ward and Dr Knowlton. Drs this is Major Doctor Samantha Carter of the US Air Force and T Murray, a consultant like myself." Sam smiled politely and Teal'c bowed his head slightly. "The materials were helpful. Thanks for sending them all." Daniel paused and then said in a low voice, "wait if you're here...does that mean Jack is too?"

Sam looked a little sheepish and said, "sorry. I tried to call and give you a heads up but I think your phone is out of battery. The only choice was to come here in person, so Jack had to come as well."

"You know he is never going to let me live this down right? I go to DC to get a photo and wind up as a murder suspect. It is just my luck." He shook his head at his weird luck. "Anyway we were just about to finish up. We were debating about what the last symbol translates to."

Sam made a brief show of looking at the material before saying, "Daniel's right." Teal'c threw in his assent, "Indeed."

The two doctors paused for a moment before the one Daniel had pointed out earlier as Dr Ward made his dissent known. "How can you know? This is an undeciphered language! What in your background allows you to draw that conclusion?"

Sam and Teal'c exchanged looks before Sam spoke for both of them. "Seven years of knowing Daniel." Sam said in a tone that clearly said it was background enough.

"So you're agreeing with him just on the basis that you know him?!" The doctor was outraged.

Teal'c chose to answer this time. "DanielJackson is most accurate when it comes to translations. I have not seen him err." Teal'c's deep voice and eloquent manner of speak startled both archeologists.

Daniel spoke before either of them regained their ability to speak, "Thanks guys" Daniel's embarrassment bleeding through his voice.

"We merely speak the truth DanielJackson." Sam smiled her agreement at Teal'c's words.

Dr. Knowlton decided to find out more about these friends of Daniel's, "So, Major was it? What is your doctorate in?"

"Yes it's Major. I have a doctorate in astrophysics."

"Astrophysics? How does that relate to the Air Force?" Dr Ward asked curiously.

"NASA often recruits from the Air Force. I wanted to be an astronaut for the longest time."

"What changed?"

"Oh, you know... things happen and goals change." She shrugged in a manner that suggested she was fine with the outcome regardless of the original goal.

There was a lull in the conversation. Daniel returned his attention to the sheet trying to find a way to finish the translation before Jack made his inevitable appearance. The last symbol correctly translated to 'to slumber' but the other archeologists were having trouble grasping the fact that such a supposedly ancient culture would understand the concept of personification. They believed that the symbol translated to 'barren'. Both words made sense in context but Daniel's stubbornness refuse to let him translate anything incorrectly, especially on purpose.

After a few moments of awkward silence with Daniel staring at the page and the others just standing around, Dr Ward decided to input his idea once more. The argument that Sam and Teal'c had interrupted was renewed with new vigor on the part of Dr Ward. "I'm telling you that the symbol mean 'barren'! There is no way that any civilization developed the understanding of the human language to create personification before the Enlightenment. Assuming, as you keep reminding us, that there is no reason to treat this as a hoax until we have definitive proof. Either this is an elaborate hoax or a true marvel of its time and will revolutionize the way we deal with culture. If it is a hoax then we are wasting our time because it doesn't matter! Even if it is not then, the symbol cannot possibly mean 'to slumber'! You can't have it both ways! You have to make up your mind!" Dr. Ward concluded his rant, his face red with emotion.

Daniel opened his mouth to respond but he was interrupted by the door to the conference room opening. Jack burst in with a confused Tony on his heels. "I heard you all the way from the stairs. What is going on?" Jack's voice took on a slight edge to let everyone know he was in charge. Dr Ward opened his mouth to explain and Jack pointed a finger in his direction, "Not you." He turned to Daniel. "Daniel..." Jack asked in his typical voice.

Daniel sighed. "We were initially discussing whether the last symbol translates to 'barren' or to 'to slumber'. It then moved to whether or not this was just some huge hoax. Dr Ward was trying to explain to me that either I was right which makes it a hoax and not worth our time or it's not a hoax in which case my translation must be wrong." Daniel very nearly rolled his eyes in exasperation at the other archeologist.

"So, is there anyway to prove it one way or the other?" 'Without revealing the Stargate program' was understood. Dr Ward tried to interject but Jack quieted him down again with a finger. "Daniel?"

Daniel paused to think a moment. "Not really, no"

Jack's tone took on an amused quality as he asked, "So how long were you planning on continuing this argument? Because we both know it is impossible to win against idiots."

Daniel shrugged. "Until he agreed with me... or until I missed the gala. Either one would have worked." He answered good-naturedly.

"You always have to be right, don't you?" Jack said with a chuckle.

Daniel smiled a little. "I thought that was a requirement for our team. Along with stubbornness." Was his wry response. The team exchanged smiles and slight nods in agreement.

Hating to interrupt the team moment but wanting to cut off Dr Knowlton before he started up again, Tony interjected, "Well if the last symbol doesn't matter that much can I get a copy of what you have so far? Just put both translations for the last symbol down. Gibbs'll be back any minute and having the completed translation will put him in a...well slightly better mood."

"Sure." Daniel added the two final translations. "Here you go." He handed Tony the paper he had been using to write down the translation as well as the photo that Abby had given him.

"Great thanks." He turned to the other archeologists and said, "You're free to go." Turning to Daniel and his friends, "You'd all probably better come with me and see Gibbs. I need to make sure he didn't come up with any new questions to ask Dr Jackson. Otherwise you should be good to go." Tony turned was the first to leave the conference room, quickly followed by the archeologists and SG-1 brought up the rear.

As they entered the bullpen, the group split. The archeologists headed towards the elevator, Tony went to his desk and set down the translation, motioning to SG-1 to make themselves comfortable. "McGee, watch'em while I go find Gibbs." Tony said as he left to go search for Gibbs. McGee only shook his head and introduced himself to the newcomers.

* * * * * * * NCIS/SG-1 * * * * * * * *

Tony and Gibbs emerged from the elevator about five minutes later. As Tony and Gibbs neared their area, the black man who had been introduced as Murray seemed to sense their presence as turned his head in their direction and nodded in greeting.

The others gave no notice of the approach, seemingly lost in the conversation that was taking place until Gibbs and Tony were within a few paces. Jack turned and greeted the two. "Hey." His teammates weren't surprised by the sudden shift in focus and interruption of conversation but McGee looked a little startled. Clearly he had not noticed their approach. A second later a surprised "Gunny? Man it's been a few years. I heard you had joined NIS but I didn't know you were still here." followed.

"NIS?" Daniel questioned Sam quietly.

"NIS was renamed NCIS a few years back." Sam whispered back. Daniel nodded his thanks.

"Colonel O'Neill." Was Gibbs response. "I heard you had retired." A few quiet chuckles escaped from Jack's team.

"I tried to."

"Twice." Daniel interjected helpfully. Jack shot him a glare and Daniel's smile didn't lessen.

"They kept calling me back saying it was a matter of national security. Finally I gave up. Speaking of national security...can we take Daniel with us?"

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "How is that connected?" he said instead of answering.

"We have to attend the fancy party at the White House tonight. I'd rather skip but our absence would be noticed." Jack shrugged.

"So you all work together then?"

"Yep!" Jack answered brightly.

"What is it you do out in Colorado Springs?"

"Sorry Gunny. That's classified. Only people who work there, a few senators, and the President know what we do." Jack looked apologetic.

"Huh. So it really is that bad."

"'Fraid so. So can Danny go?"

"I need the completed translation and a quick double check on some facts. Then he should be free to go." Gibbs responded and Tony quickly handed over the translation as the rest of the group headed back towards the conference room.

Daniel took a seat closer to Gibbs to be more easily heard and Jack shifted to the other end of the table. "Now with this translation, I figure you have three options. One, you can accept this as the correct translation. Two, you can assume that the translation is correct and that it is a hoax or three that the translation is incorrect."

A small snort was heard from the other end, and Jack explained with a simple "Daniel," he paused for a moment, "is rarely, if ever wrong... despite how annoying it can be at times."

Ignoring Jack, Daniel continued, "In any case I don't think this tablet had anything to do with Matt's death and your murder investigation. For one, the tablet at the museum is untouched, with no attempts to steal it and for another if Matt was the original target he should have been shot at first instead of his friend." Daniel waited expectantly for questions.

Predictably, Tony broke the silence. "So, what does the tablet actually say that makes the professors think it is a hoax?"

Daniel hesitated for a half-second and then with a glance to his teammates, recited the tablet's words, "_After being driven back from our strongholds we had only the great city left. Though even that is under siege. With no options remaining to us, we were forced to sink the city to the bottom of the ocean in order survive. Not even the oceans can protect our home. It is only a matter of time now. The end of this war is drawing near, and I fear we will not be the victors. Our last hope, has not yet returned with the information. Though the war is nearly over, we refused to submit to the terrible beings that suck life and only leave behind withered corpses._" Daniel paused for a moment before saying, "There was some strange little mark around this section. Almost as if it was starting a new entry. Like a diary of some sorts. It then goes on to say..._ The beings see us as little more than cattle to be culled and eaten when they choose. Their numbers seem to keep growing as ours dwindles daily. Even with our superior technology, we are still little more than cattle in the face of their numbers. We are a proud people and it took three years before we lost all hope of winning. And even then we despaired at losing our great city, and leaving the others without our protection. But there is little more we can do for anyone now. We have no choice but to leave our great city, the pride of our people. The thought of leaving her empty at the bottom of an ocean for all eternity was heart breaking. As we left the city through the gateway, we could only hope that one day our descendants would come and wake the city. The thought of leaving it to slumber/barren..._ It ends there. The rest of the tablet is unreadable."

"So I can see why the professors would think it's a hoax." Tony stated boldly. "Sinking cities and life-sucking creatures. Definitely sounds like a modern fairytale." Tony added for good measure.

McGee added to it by saying, "Life-sucking creatures does sound like vampires to me. And does anyone else immediately jump to the Lost City of Atlantis upon hearing 'sink the city' and 'bottom of the ocean'?"

"Yes. That was my first thought as well. Even in Israel we have stories of the Lost City." Ziva agreed with McGee. The Colorado team stayed quiet as Team Gibbs, minus Gibbs, hashed out various theories. In order to get his team back on task, Gibbs delivered a head-slap to each of them.

A chorus of 'Sorry Boss' and 'On it Boss' with a surprised looked from Ziva brought the conversation back to topic. Sam used the momentary silence to interject her thought. "If Daniel is right and the tablet doesn't affect your investigation in anyway, then isn't this whole discussion, basically just academic?"

There was a brief pause before Teal'c agreed with Sam's assessment, "Indeed."

"The problem is," Tony began, "that without knowing what you guys do out in Colorado it's hard to be certain of anything. So despite the fact that it appears as Dr Jackson said, we still need to check all the possible motives..." Tony trailed off.

Jack jumped in, "Well, we could give you the cover story. But I've got a feeling that won't fly." Jack waited for confirmation in the form of nods before continuing. "So, you get the 'it's classified' speech."

McGee asked, "What is the cover story? Dr Jackson just gave the 'it's classified' speech."

"Daniel?" Jack prompted.

"Well, considering that it would take you no time at all the find out that we don't do Deep Space Radar Telemetry, I figured that while 'it's classified' is more annoying, we didn't have to go through the whole 'you're lying to me' thing. Besides, even I know cover-ups are not a good thing in an investigation."

"Deep Space Radar Telemetry? What kind of cover story is that?" Tony asked with a grimace.

"See! That's what I said!" Jack agreed whole-heartily. "Now, speaking of classified stuff," Jack started looking infinitely more serious than two seconds ago, "We need to go through everything Daniel said, make sure nothing slipped through the cracks. Loose lips sink ships and all that."

"Jack! I'm not that bad." Daniel nearly whined.

Jack raised an eyebrow and replied with "Nyet?" Daniel's sheepish face and the expressions on Teal'c's and Sam's faces let the NCIS team know that something had happened...though what the Russian word for 'no' had to do with anything was another matter. "So can we get the tapes and notes?" Jack finished, completely ignoring his previous statement.

Gibbs nodded and barked "DiNozzo, McGee." The two agents in question nodded back in understanding and left the room to get the aforementioned items.

As Tony and McGee left the room, Jack turned to the remaining agents and asked, "So how is the investigation going? I know you said Graff was probably not the target, so what do you have so far?"

Gibbs paused for a moment deciding how much to say before beginning, "We have some suspicions about a few of the base personnel and it seems probable that the other victim somehow found out about it and called in someone he could trust, your Lieutenant." Gibbs stated succinctly.

Just as Jack opened his mouth again, the door opened and Tony and McGee entered. "We got them!" Tony announced. He set a notepad down on the table and McGee also set down the requested disc. Jack reached for the notepad first.

As Jack perused the notepad first, Tony spoke up. "So, I came across something I had never seen before when I was researching you…" he paused for dramatic effect and noticed that all four of the visitors had tensed up simultaneously, which though interesting was to be expected with their work. "One of your death certificates, Dr Jackson, was classified. I didn't even know death certificates could be classified..."

Daniel looked genuinely surprised. "Really?" and after a moment of thinking, "It was the most recent one wasn't it?" an expression of wary amusement took over.

"From the expression on your face I assume that it being classified was not a filing error then?"

Jack snorted and answered for Daniel. "Yeah, trying to explain that to people outside the know was fun. They kept trying to tell me that I was the one that was confused! That there was no such thing as a classified death certificate!" Jack took a deep breath, even remembering the hours spent on the phone with the idiots was enough to set him off again.

While Jack had gotten side-tracked by the conversation, Sam had taken the notepad and was reading over it. At the lull in the conversation, "So, information in the notepad is all okay. There's nothing really that could give anything away. Just Daniel being Daniel."

"So, onto the video." Jack stated with his trademark smirk firmly in place.

McGee placed the disc into the laptop and turned on the overhead projected so everyone could watch the video without crowding around the laptop. As the video played, there were a few sniggers from the Colorado team when Daniel was describing where the base was without actually saying where it was and when there were vague references to the glow club and 1969.

Predictably, Jack made the first comment. "Well Daniel, I think you made them even more confused than necessary." In his typical smart-alec way.

Daniel responded automatically, "Jack, don't be an ass."

Sam covered her laugh and Teal'c's mouth twitched upward.

Teal'c broke the brief silence by saying, ""O'Neill, should we not be leaving for the function shortly?"

Daniel glanced at his teammates before asking Teal'c, "General Hammond asked you to make sure we got to the gala on-time, didn't he?"

"He did." Was the response.

The three remaining members of the team stood and Jack sighed. "Well Gunny, this looks like the end of the road. If you're ever in Colorado, give me a call. We can catch up on old times or we could go fishing and watch The Simpsons." Teal'c, Sam, and Daniel all simultaneously rolled their eyes, or what counted as eye-rolling Teal'c's case. Jack stuck out his hand and Gibbs shook it before Jack returned his attention to his team. "All right gang, let's go crash the party." His smirk back in place. SG-1 briefly said their good-byes before filing out of the room.

As they were about to enter the elevator the doors opened to reveal Abby. Surprise briefly showed on her face before she put her hands on her hips and started berating Daniel. "You were not going to leave without saying good-bye were you? You had better been coming down to see me mister! I never get to see you anymore and I barely got to see you this time!" Abby finished with a pout.

Next to Daniel, Jack tried to smother a chuckle. Daniel, knowing the best course of action was to ignore Jack, did just that and tried to placate Abby. "I was about to tell my friends that I needed to make a quick stop down to your lab to say good-bye. You would never let me live it down if I didn't besides, I wanted to tell you to drop in if you're ever in Colorado."

"You had better do the same if you're ever in D.C. again!" Abby returned with a brilliant smile.

"Since you're here you can walk us to the door. We are in a bit of a rush..." Daniel trailed off as he suddenly remembered his manners. "Oh, this is Jack, Sam and Murray." He gestured to each one. "Guys, this is my old friend Abby Scuito. She is the forensic scientist here." As introductions were being made, Daniel led the group into the elevator.

"So what sort of stuff do you work on here at NCIS? Bullets? Fingerprinting?" Sam asked curiously. Abby launched into an explanation of what she did and started in on a few of the more interesting cases that they had solved. Despite the short ride down, Sam and Abby had exchanged several questions and small non-classified stories by the end of it. So as SG-1 walked out the door, Sam and Abby were making promises to keep in touch and exchanging contact information. Daniel said his final good-byes somewhere in between all that and they headed towards the hotel to get ready.

* * * * * * * NCIS/SG-1 * * * * * * * *

A few days later Daniel received an e-mail from Abby.

_Daniel,_

_ We __finally __wrapped __up __your __Lieutenant's __case. __It __turns __out __that __his __friend, __Scott __Sutherland, __was __indeed __the __intended __target. __He __saw __weapons __being __sold __on __the __black __market __from __the __base __by __some __of __the __brass. __The __killer __only __held __his __ground __for __five __minutes __in __the __terrifying __face __of __Gibbs's __wrath. __Tony __said __he __had __nearly __wet __his __pants. __Gibbs __was __in __an __especially __bad__ mood __since __we __had __been __previously __given __a __huge __run-around __by __the __guy. __I __mean __it__ took __us __two __days __to __even __get __an__ idea __that __it __might __have __been __a __wild __goose __chase. __Thankfully __Major __Mass-Spec __was __able __to __figure __it __out __before __someone __else __got __killed. __After __searching __his __house __we __found __some __notes __on __his __computer __that __hinted __he __might __have __been __ready __to __up __the __shipments __to __something __more __dangerous __than __just __guns. __Anyway, __just __another __crisis __averted! __Hope __everything __is __going __well __in __Classified __Land!__..._

Daniel smiled as he read the first part of the letter. Knowing the rest of it would keep, he went to inform his team that NCIS had gotten their man and fill them in on the rest of the details. He wondered if Sam might have gotten an e-mail similar to his since she and Abby had hit it off so well.


End file.
